February 8, 1965 - Jones Beach, New York - An Eastern
Air Lines DC-7 crashed shortly after takeoff after taking evasive
action to avoid a Pan AmericanB-707 which had been placed on a converging
track by Air Traffic Control.
(85 Fatalities)

The night of the crash
was dark with no visible moon or stars, and no visible horizon. As the two
aircraft approached similar positions, their pilots had no points of reference
to determine actual separation distance or position. Eastern's departure
turn, and Pan Am's subsequent left to its assigned heading, had placed the
two aircraft on the illusion of a direct collision course. Pan Am rolled
right and started a descent in an attempt to avoid collision.

In response, Eastern initiated an extreme right turn in order to pass
safely. The Pan Am captain estimated that the two aircraft had passed
about 300 feet of each other. Eastern was unable to recover from its
unusually steep bank and plunged into the icy water of the Atlantic Ocean,
where it exploded in bright orange flames.

The wreckage of Eastern's DC-7 was located on the ocean floor at
a depth of 70-80 feet.

March 4, 1965 - Positive control of the airspace in the lower 48
states between 24,000 and 60,000 feet was consolidated into a single area
known as the continental positive control area.

May 24, 1965 - FAA begins the first
field test of the terminal prototype of the Automated Radar
Terminal System (ARTS I) at the Atlanta, GA airport.

(ARTS is a modular system capable of displaying Mode-C radar
beacon signals in alphanumeric form.)

ARTS is used in conjunction with Air Route Surveillance
Radar (ARSR) to detect and display an aircraft's position
while en route between terminal areas, to provide surveillance for Air
Traffic Controllers.

July 1, 1965 - President Lyndon Johnson names retired Air Force
four-star General William
F. McKee as FAA Administrator

Kansas City, MO - Flying from LAX to ORD, Continental Air Lines, on an
intermediate stop in Kansas City on an ILS approach, the flight
crew encountered light rain and light to moderate turbulence. Windshield
wipers were turned on, full flaps were lowered, and touchdown was 1,100
feet past the approach end of the runway. In heavy rain, the nose gear
touched down, brakes applied, spoilers raised, and reverse thrust applied
to 80 percent. After rolling 4,000' 100 percent reverse thrust was
applied. The aircraft did not slow down and went off the end of the
runway. (66 Fatalities)

The
FAA has been continuing research and study on the problem of
aquaplaning, and has directed the Regions to assure that all air carrier
training programs cover the subject of aquaplaning. A requirement was
established that air carrier pilots receive instruction during initial and
recurrent training about aquaplaning, the hazards associated with it, and
the techniques to use when it is encountered.

Additionally, NASA is actively investigating the possibility of
reducing or eliminating aquaplaning by the use of a directed stream of air
ahead of the tire. They are also working on the possibility of surface
texturing.

August 16, 1965 -
- Lake Michigan

August 16, 1965 - Lake Michigan - A United Airlines
B-727 crashed into Lake Michigan at night, after the pilots
apparently misread their altimeters. All 24 passengers and a crew of six
perished in the first fatal crash of the Boeing-727.
(30 Fatalities)

The control tower at O'Hare lost radio contact with the jet as it
approached the western shore of Lake Michigan. The pilot had just received
landing instructions and had replied "Roger" when communications with the
plane failed.

This accident occurred in dark, hazy, VFR conditions.

The pilots thought they were descending through 16,000' when they were
actually descending through only 6,000' The B-727 was already down
to an altitude of about 2,000' when the 6,000' clearance limit was given
by the tower. That final clearance was acknowledged by the captain, and
was the last communication with ATC prior to impact with the water.
The NTSB estimated the plane hit the water at approximately 230
mph.

November 8, 1965 -
- Cincinnati, OH

November 8, 1965 - Cincinnati, Ohio -- An American
Airlines B-727 crashed on approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport.
The crew of the B-727 reported they had the airport in sight and
would be making a visual approach.

Approach control reported precipitation to the west and moving south. On
the tower frequency the aircraft was in sight and cleared to land.
Precipitation had moved over the airport and light rain was falling.

When the crew was asked if it still had the runway in sight, they replied
"Ah...just barely...we'll pick up the ILS
here." A few seconds
later the jet flew into the west bank of the Ohio River and exploded.

This American B-727 flight experienced a 20-minute departure delay at
LaGuardia and combined with the forecast and in-flight observations of
thunderstorm activity in the Cincinnati area may have prompted the crew to
expedite their arrival at Cincinnati. Once in the Cincinnati area the crew
was aware of the rapidly deteriorating weather situation and despite the
fact that VFR conditions existed, it is believed that a more
prudent judgment would have been either for the flight to have conducted
an instrument approach, or to have delayed the approach until the storm
had moved beyond the airport.

One contributing cause of the accident was the crew's inability to
stabilize it's approach, entering downwind with excess speed. The weather
also played an important role. In visual conditions on downwind, the jet
would have entered the area of low-lying clouds and rain as it crossed over
the river and turned base. The crew may have attempted to descend below
low-lying clouds in order to keep the airport in sight.

Additionally there was improper crew co-ordination. American
requires that altitude and airspeed be called out by the non-flying pilot
whenever the aircraft is 500' or lower above the airport. Proper descent
rate should have been called or they weren't monitoring the instruments.
Both pilots may have been looking out the window to maintain visual
contact. The last radio transmission, 5 seconds before impact, indicated
that the crew was unaware that they had descended to an altitude below the
level of the airport.

One flight attendant and three passengers
survived. (58 Fatalities)

November 11, 1965 -
- Salt Lake City, UT

November 11, 1965 -
United Air Lines B-727, on a flight from LaGuardia to
San Francisco crashed
short of the runway in Salt Lake City, UT into runway lights.
Failure of the captain to take timely action to arrest and excessive
descent rate during the landing approach was believed to be the cause.
(43 Fatalities)

The accident was blamed on the bad judgment of the captain
for conducting the final approach from a position that was too high and
too close to the airport to permit a descent at the normal and safe rate.
He allowed the plane to fly the final approach segment (in visual
conditions) at a descent rate of 2,300 feet per minute (3 times the safe
descent rate). When the jet crossed the outer marker it was 2,000' too
high.

The first officer, who was flying the jet under the
captain's direction, attempted to add engine thrust, but the captain told
him no and brushed his hands off the thrust levers. The captain took over
the controls during the last few seconds, but it was too late to avoid
crashing short of the runway. Many of the 50 passengers who successfully
evacuated were severely burned.

This rapid sink rate was common when the B-727's
were first brought into service, primarily due to the heavy tail section
on which 3 engines were mounted. Pilot training was revisited and pilots
carried more power on future landings. Several other airlines also had
problems with the sink rate of their B-727's.

The
FAA implemented changes in the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate
and certain checks which included a more comprehensive and reliable flight
test for evaluating a pilot's capability and competency to serve as
pilot-in-command of aircraft used in air transportation.

(Douglas
DC-9)

November 23, 1965 - The Douglas
DC-9 (99 passengers), a twin-engine turbojet, designed for the
short-to-medium haul market was type-certified by the FAA.

(Midair
Collision)
-Carmel, NY

December 4, 1965 -
Carmel, New York - Midair collision of an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed
SuperConstellation and a TWAB-707 over Carmel, NY.
TWA
made an emergency landing at JFK, but the Eastern flight is forced to
crash land on Hunt Mountain near Danbury, CT, killing all 3 passengers and
the Captain. (4 Fatalities)

The two aircraft approached Carmel VORTAC at the same time, TWA from
the northwest as the Eastern Constellation emerged from a cloud puff. The
aircraft appeared to be converging rapidly at the same altitude, and the
captain immediately disengaged the autopilot, put the wheel hard to the
right, and pulled back on the yoke. His first officer also grabbed the
controls and acted with him.

Artist Depiction

It became apparent that this maneuver would not allow them to pass
clear of each other so they attempted to reverse the wheel to the left and
pushed on the yoke. Before the B-707 could react to the control reversal,
two shocks were felt and the jet entered a steep dive. The B-707's left
wing had impacted the tail of the Constellation and both aircraft were out
of control.

The TWA crew recovered from the dive, declared an emergency with New
York Center and was vectored to JFK, and made a safe landing.

The Eastern crew had no response from the Constellation's controls or
trim tabs, but they discovered that a degree of control was available by
adjusting the throttles, and were able to maintain a descent in level
attitude (the nose rose when power was increased and fell with power was
decreased).

The aircraft descended into the upward sloping hillside with wheels and
flaps retracted. At the last moment he jammed the throttles forward to
pitch up the aircraft's nose and let the plane pancake into the 15% slope.
The first impact was on a tree that was found broken 46 feet above the
ground. 250' further the left wing contacted another tree and was
separated from the aircraft. The fuselage contacted the ground and the
plane came to rest on the slope, broken into three pieces.

The cockpit and cabin crews survived the crash landing and worked to
evacuate the survivors. Two passengers later died of their injuries. The
captain had returned to the cabin to help a passenger. Both had died due
to smoke inhalation.

PROBABLE CAUSE: It was determined that the
cause of this collision was misjudgment of altitude separation by the crew
of the Eastern flight because of an optical illusion created by the
up-slope effect of cloud tops resulting in an evasive maneuver and a
reactionary evasive maneuver by the TWA crew.

(1966)

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Air Traffic
Control Tower

The
Demolition of the old Air Traffic Control Tower at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
replaced by a new $44.2 million facility. At 398' it's the
tallest in North America. -- (May, 1978)

January, 1966 - ARTS I success
at Atlanta resulted in a contract between the FAA and the Department
of Defense for the development of an ARTS II, a smaller and
less costly version of ARTS for use at military towers and
low-density civilian terminals.

April 22, 1966 -
- Ardmore, OK

April 22,
1966 - Ardmore, Oklahoma - An American Flyers Airline
Lockheed L-188 crashed into foothills during a landing attempt at
Ardmore municipal Airport. Existing weather at Ardmore was scattered
thunderstorms, tornado warnings and also indications of wind shear.

Cause of the accident was incapacitation of the
captain with a heart attack during final stages of approach. The captain,
who suffered from a long standing heart condition and diabetes, managed to
keep his pilot license by falsifying his medical records.

(83 Fatalities) of the 98 people aboard the aircraft. Most
of the passengers were military being flown under a Department of Defense
contract en route to Fort Ord, CA with a service stop and crew change in
Ardmore.

American Flyers Airline was a charter operation
that operated from 1949 to 1971, when it became Universal Airlines
and later Saturn Airways.

(Learjet-24)

May 17, 1966 - The Learjet-24
(2 crewmembers and 6 passengers), a two-engine turbine-powered business
jet was type-certified by the FAA. In the first flight of its kind by a
business jet, a Learjet-24 completed a 17-leg, 23,000 statute
miles, round-the-world flight on May 26,1966. The global flight took 65
hours 40 minutes (actual flying time = 50 hours)

June 30, 1966 - FAA created the New York Common
IFR Room (CIFRR), to control all traffic arriving and departing at JFK,
LaGuardia, Newark, Teterboro and 12 satellite airports in the New York
City metropolitan area.

July 8 - August 19,
1966 - One of the longest (43 days)
and costliest strike in U.S. airline history took place when a strike was
called by the international Association of Machinists halting the flight
operations of Eastern, National Northwest, TWA and United Airlines.

July 24, 1966 -
- Indiana

July 24, 1966 - Tony Lema 32, Pro Golfer, near Munster, IN,
died in the crash of a Beechcraft H50 after both engines failed due
to fuel starvation. His wife Betty and 2 others also died.

Tony Lema was born in Oakland, CA. His father died when he was 3 years
old. He began playing golf as a boy and in 1955 worked as an assistant to
the club pro at a San Francisco golf club. By 1957, he earned his way onto
the PGA Tour. In 1962 Lema joked that he would serve champagne to the
press if he won the Orange County Open Invitational. His new nickname was
'Champagne Tony.'

In 1965 Tony won the Buick Open for the second consecutive year. At the
time of his death in 1966 Lema was second only to Arnold Palmer in fan
popularity. In 1983, a San Leandro, CA public golf course was named in his
honor, The Tony Lema Golf Course.

August 6, 1966 -
- Falls City, NE

August
6, 1966 - Falls City, Nebraska - A Braniff Airlines BAC-111,
from New Orleans to Minneapolis,
crashed when it broke up after penetrating a severe thunderstorm cell,
along with hail and strong wind gusts. Kansas City Center
cleared the BAC-111 to FL200, the pilot requested 5,000' and asked to
deviate left of course. Request was approved and handed off to Chicago
Center.

When the BAC-111 entered an area of an active squall line, the jet
violently accelerated upward and in a left roll. Then the right tailplane
and the fin failed. The jet pitched nose down and the right wing failed as
well. The plane tumbled down in flames until stabilizing into a flat spin
before impacting the ground.

Witnesses reported seeing a bright flash and a ball of fire falling
through a cloud shelf and the BAC-111 spiraling towards the ground.
Investigation showed that the starboard wing failed downward while the
tail had failed to the left. Both the rudder and elevator had separated
from their attachments. There was no evidence of structural or system
damager or from hail or lightning.
(42 Fatalities)

Probable cause was in-flight structural failure caused
by extreme turbulence during operation of the jet in an area of avoidable
hazardous weather.

October
15, 1966 - President Lyndon Johnson
signed the Department of Transportation (DOT) Act bringing the FAA and other
Federal agencies having to do with transportation under the new Cabinet
Department.

When Congress consolidated all transportation agencies into the DOT
it established the NTSB as an independent agency, as a single
organization with a clearly defined mission to promote a higher level of
safety in the transportation system.

The NTSB investigates accidents in the aviation,
highway, marine, pipeline, and railroad, as well as accidents related to
hazardous materials.